I love to play golf and tennis. I also own four acclaimed golf courses, so it’s not exactly a hobby anymore. I am building one in Scotland at the moment. It will be the best anywhere in the world.

5. How much of your success do you attribute to sheer luck?

I think it may be more heredity than luck (which is also luck). I was around my father, working with him and watching him work, from a very young age. I learned a lot through osmosis, but luck always plays a role.

6. What is your greatest guilty pleasure?

Eating ice cream and lots of other great food.

7. Where do you get most of your information on your industry?

I read a lot of newspapers every day about national, international and industry events. Plus Neil Cavuto, Bill O’Reilly and CNBC.

8. What has been the best day of your life so far?

I’ve had many great days.

9. On average, how many employees do you interact with each day?

Sometimes hundreds, sometimes thousands, sometimes two.

10. When was the last evening that hadn’t been scheduled in advance? What did you do?

It was so long ago I can’t remember–probably a movie.

11. What is your worst quality?

I can be impatient. There’s usually a good reason for it.

12. What is your favorite book and why?

The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump. It was a great read in 1987, a No. 1 bestseller, and nothing has changed.

13. Which decision in your life took the most courage?

I don’t know if courage is the right word, but in my teen years I had to decide between going to USC to study film or to study for a career in real estate and attend Wharton. I made the right decision.

14. If you could share a drink with anyone on the planet, who would it be?

Melania.

15. Say you have $100,000 to invest: What would you do with it?

I’d find something in real estate. It’s familiar territory and I’ve had a lot of good luck with it.

16. If you had three months to live, how would you spend them?

With my family and friends (and still fighting my enemies).

17. How much is the correct amount to leave to your children?

It depends on how smart and responsible they are. So many children who are given large sums seem to become lost, so that would depend on their reliability and ability. I have smart kids–they will do very well.

18. What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

Not to lose focus. When I had a financial problem in the 1990s, I couldn’t blame anyone but myself. The real estate market wasn’t great, but I had definitely lost focus for awhile. I got it back really fast–I had no choice.

19. What’s the next billion-dollar idea waiting to be exploited?

If I knew I wouldn’t tell–I never like talking about deals until they happen.

20. So much of what passes for wisdom is wrong. What piece of contrary advice can you offer?

Luck played a part, however, I believe having a passion for my work and embracing change were more important factors. I am extremely fortunate in that I love what I do. I wake up every day optimistic about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. I spent 50 years in financial services and I continue to be involved in philanthropy, as I have for more than 25 years. When you love what you do, I believe success follows.

6. What is your greatest guilty pleasure?

Chocolate sorbet and pizza with jalapeños.

7. Where do you get most of your information on your industry?

From talking to people and reading newspapers, magazines, analyst reports … I love to read.

8. What has been the best day of your life so far?

April Fool’s Day, 1954, the day I met my wife, Joan, on a blind date.

9. On average, how many employees do you interact with each day?

Fifty.

10. When was the last evening that hadn’t been scheduled in advance? What did you do?

A recent Sunday. After being on the road for awhile, I got caught up on my mail and watched both the Yankees and Mets games on television.

11. What is your worst quality?

Being loyal to a fault.

12. What is your favorite book and why?

I enjoy all of Clive Cussler’s books. I’m also partial to The Real Deal: My Life in Business and Philanthropy … I know the author pretty well!

13. Which decision in your life took the most courage?

To start a small brokerage firm back in 1960 with three others on a shoestring budget with two young children at home.

14. If you could share a drink with anyone on the planet, who would it be?

There is no one I’d rather have a drink with other than my wife. If we could have a few guests, I’d invite former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Jim Baker.

15. Say you have $100,000 to invest: What do you do with it?

Be philanthropic. Invest it back into society to try to bridge cultural divides through education, health care and the arts. But don’t just invest money, invest your time, passion, energy and knowledge.

16. If you had three months to live, how would you spend them?

Being with my family and giving away the money that I have been fortunate enough to make over the years. Trying to do my part to make this world a better place.

17. How much is the correct amount to leave to your children?

Each situation is different for everyone.

18. What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

Recognizing a problem and addressing it right away before it becomes a bigger problem.

19. What’s the next billion-dollar idea waiting to be exploited?

We need to reform high school education in the United States to give students the skills, knowledge and preparation they need for successful careers. I believe education is really the key that can unlock the door to one’s future.

20. So much of what passes for wisdom is wrong. What piece of contrary advice can you offer?

Look at change as opportunity. Mistakes are OK, just learn from them and don’t keep making them over and over. Don’t be afraid to hire someone who is smarter than you.

For many years of my childhood, I wanted to be a doctor. In time I discovered that my gifts and passions lay in the medical realm. But as an inventor rather than a practitioner, creating products and processes that improved the abilities of doctors and the lives of patients.

2. In terms of time, what was your study-to-party ratio in college?

I was never much of a party person in college. My time was divided between studying, sports and work. I found the adrenaline rush of sports, especially basketball, gave me a far greater charge than partying.

3. Which entrepreneur do you most admire?

The “entrepreneur” I most admire is a composite character, and really not an entrepreneur: my father and my mother. My father taught me the need for and value of hard work and of patience, and of finding a rhythm in work and life. My mother was the dreamer and visionary whose unfailing belief in me and fierce loyalty instilled in me the idea that no dream was too grand for me or beyond my reach. Other than these two powerful influences, I follow my own path instead of that of some entrepreneurial mentor.

4. What is your favorite hobby?

I have two. The first is a love for nature. I enjoy walking outdoors, looking at and exploring the natural world. I love to take in the wide scene, so my home is filled with large, panoramic-view windows from which I can gaze out at my garden and at the mountains in the distance. The second is writing, especially poems and hymns. Writing started as an unconscious manner of combating dyslexia, but evolved into something that expanded and enriched my entire life.

5. How much of your success do you attribute to sheer luck?

While there is an element of luck, good or bad, in all of our lives, I believe luck ultimately follows vision joined to commitment. Throughout my life, I have taken a lot of small, calculated risks rather than betting the farm on any one big thing.

6. What is your greatest guilty pleasure?

I find it best to avoid true guilty pleasures, but I’m quite the junk food enthusiast–which makes it so I have to work harder to stay in shape, jogging two miles and doing push-ups at age 86.

7. Where do you get most of your information on your industry?

I get most of my information from my own observations and reflections. I have a fascination for studying people, and how they approach problems and processes. This has led to many of my most significant business breakthroughs, such as the medical inventions that flowed out of observing the practices of doctors in hospitals. I have spent my entire career creating new industries rather than studying existing ones.

8. What has been the best day of your life so far?

Personally, the greatest eight days of my life have been the days that each of my children were born. Professionally, the greatest day (and in another way, one of the most difficult) was the day that Sorenson Research was sold to Abbott in 1980, making me the single largest Abbott shareholder.

9. On average, how many employees do you interact with each day?

I have an open-door policy for employees in all my companies. How many I see each day really varies: Some days, I may interact with only one or two employees; other days, it may be dozens.

10. When was the last evening that hadn’t been scheduled in advance? What did you do?

I’m trying to schedule fewer and fewer things these days. I’m a highly spontaneous person. Last night I went driving in the Wasatch mountains just up the road from my home on a whim.

11. What is your worst quality?

I don’t even think this way. I never dwell on the negative–not for others, and especially not for myself. I find that it gets in the way of dreaming and of making things happen.

12. What is your favorite book and why?

Whatever book I’m writing at the time is the one that consumes my thoughts and energy.

13. Which decision in your life took the most courage?

I believe one of the most difficult and best decisions of my professional life was to leave a thriving pharmaceutical and medical devices company I had helped to create and chart my own course.

14. If you could share a drink with anyone on the planet, who would it be?

It couldn’t be any stronger than 7-Up, and I would share it with my family: my wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

15. Say you have $100,000 to invest: What do you do with it?

I would spread it among the leading-edge genetic genealogy organizations I’m building now.

16. If you had three months to live, how would you spend them?

The way I’m spending them now–dividing my time between members of my family and developing the organizations that I hope will change the world and improve the lives of many people in it.

17. How much is the correct amount to leave to your children?

I don’t think there’s a pat answer to this one: enough for them to leverage and make a greater difference, and not so much that it prevents them from aspiring to greatness and leaving their own mark on the world.

18. What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

To spend my energy and resources investing in my own ideas, rather than those of other people. I have learned, painfully at times, that I need to conceive and drive my own vision.

19. What’s the next billion-dollar idea waiting to be exploited?

What I’m working on now: the genetic and family history elements that connect people and provide them with a greater sense of identity and connection.

20. So much of what passes for wisdom is wrong. What piece of contrary advice can you offer?

Instead of simply saying “I can’t do it,” say “I can’t do it … yet.” Too many promising individuals give up on their plans and dreams when things begin to look bleak or they can’t see their way forward, and listen to the doubting voices of those around them rather than trusting in the vision that got them on the path in the first place. Find your contribution and see it through.

I dreamed of flying, motorcycles and cars. I made a tank truck out of a Clabber Girl baking powder can.

2. In terms of time, what was your study-to-party ratio in college?

The opportunity to attend college did not present itself until my late 20s, after marriage and children, so I only studied in college.

3. Which entrepreneur do you most admire?

Warren Buffett.

4. What is your favorite hobby?

Flying.

5. How much of your success do you attribute to sheer luck?

I consider myself very lucky, especially when I work hard. Only a small portion is sheer luck.

6. What is your greatest guilty pleasure?

Quail hunting during the work week.

7. Where do you get most of your information on your industry?

Industry publications and associates.

8. What has been the best day of your life so far?

Personally, the birth of my children and professionally, winning two lawsuits.

9. On average, how many employees do you interact with each day?

Today it was 50. Today is a normal day.

10. When was the last evening that hadn’t been scheduled in advance? What did you do?

Last evening. I had dinner at home with my family and threw a ball for my Lab in the pool before reading a book and retiring.

11. What is your worst quality?

Lack of organization. I tend to proceed much like a mad scientist, tackling highest-priority, urgent matters first.

12. What is your favorite book and why?

Caesar: Life of a Colossus. Like all geologists, I love history.

13. Which decision in your life took the most courage?

To step out of the first truck to allow someone else to take over for growth’s sake.

14. If you could share a drink with anyone on the planet, who would it be?

Bill Gates.

15. Say you have $100,000 to invest: What do you do with it?

Turn it over to my personal asset manager.

16. If you had three months to live, how would you spend them?

With my family seeing the rest of the world.

17. How much is the correct amount to leave to your children?

An amount they can successfully manage without altering their life.

18. What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

To live life to the fullest each day and be happy.

19. What’s the next billion-dollar idea waiting to be exploited?

Master Limited Partnerships for oil and gas producing properties.

20. So much of what passes for wisdom is wrong. What piece of contrary advice can you offer?

Popular wisdom has crude-oil supplies meeting the growing demand in the world past 2025. It is my belief we are at the end of the growth in crude-oil supplies in the world and approaching a flat plateau of producing capacity limitation subsequent to a long, slow decline.

When I was a kid, I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to do, but I did have a good work ethic, working at an ice-cream parlor to make extra money for my family and at the ballpark so I could watch baseball games.

2. In terms of time, what was your study-to-party ratio in college?

While attending college, I lived at home. The G.I. Bill gave me the opportunity to go to college.

3. Which entrepreneur do you most admire?

Bill Gates.

4. What is your favorite hobby?

My favorite hobbies are tennis and golf.

5. How much of your success do you attribute to sheer luck?

Luck has something to do with being at the right place at the right time. But you have to be ready, willing and prepared to take an opportunity if you are lucky enough to get it.

6. What is your greatest guilty pleasure?

Ice cream.

7. Where do you get most of your information on your industry?

Reading, conversations with colleagues and on-the-job training.

8. What has been the best day of your life so far?

I have been blessed with a number of “best days:” the day I met my wife; the day we got married; and the births of my children and grandchildren.

9. On average, how many employees do you interact with each day?

Fifteen to 20.

10. When was the last evening that hadn’t been scheduled in advance? What did you do?

My wife and I took our grandchildren (as many as were in town) to dinner. It was great.

11. What is your worst quality?

(Declined to respond.)

12. What is your favorite book and why?

My favorite book this year is The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn.

13. Which decision in your life took the most courage?

I really don’t think of my decisions or actions as courageous or heroic.

14. If you could share a drink with anyone on the planet, who would it be?

Walter Cronkite; Tiger Woods; Warren Buffett.

15. Say you have $100,000 to invest: What do you do with it?

In one of our new real estate projects.

16. If you had three months to live, how would you spend them?

I would continue to do what I do now, be with my family and working.

17. How much is the correct amount to leave to your children?

I think it is important not to give or leave too much or too soon to your children so that they remain inspired to achieve on their own. Another important element is to make sure that you share not only with your family but also with your community.

18. What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

Over the years, I have had my share of lessons as well as disappointments. An important lesson is that your family is to be loved and your friends are to be cherished and your community is to be respected and supported.

19. What’s the next billion-dollar idea waiting to be exploited?

I leave that to the next generation to figure out.

20. So much of what passes for wisdom is wrong. What piece of contrary advice can you offer?